Reuters - The government is investigating if homeowners were misled by California bank and mortgage issuer Golden West Financial, which was acquired by Wachovia Corp -- another possible victim.

Reuters - Stocks plunged to their lowest in five-and-a-half years on Wednesday as investors girded for a lengthy economic downturn and automotive executives predicted a far-reaching calamity without a government lifeline.

Reuters - Consumer prices fell at a record pace in October and new-home building slumped to fresh lows, according to government reports on Wednesday that suggested the economy likely is already in a recession that may be long and deep.

Reuters - Federal Reserve officials slashed economic growth forecasts through 2009 and some believed even deeper interest rate cuts may be needed if growth slows further, minutes of their October policy meeting show.

AP - Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in Senate history, narrowly lost his re-election bid Tuesday, marking the downfall of a Washington political power and Alaska icon who couldn't survive a conviction on federal corruption charges. His defeat by Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich moves Senate Democrats within two seats of a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority.

AP - Cody Linley won't be graduating "Dancing with the Stars."

AP - A spacewalking astronaut accidentally let go of her tool bag Tuesday after a grease gun inside it exploded, and helplessly watched as the tote and everything inside floated away.

AP - Don Wakamatsu has his first job as a major league manager, and it's not exactly an easy one.

AP - Doctors have given a woman a new windpipe with tissue grown from her own stem cells, eliminating the need for anti-rejection drugs. "This technique has great promise," said Dr. Eric Genden, who did a similar transplant in 2005 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. That operation used both donor and recipient tissue. Only a handful of windpipe, or trachea, transplants have ever been done.

AP - An 8-year-old boy accused in the deaths of his father and another man gave police conflicting accounts about the shootings, at one point saying, "I wasn't shooting any guns" before admitting to firing at least two shots at each of the men.

AP - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has engaged three prominent lawyers to help President-elect Barack Obama vet her candidacy for secretary of state even as some insiders criticized the pick and advisers to the former first lady said she was weighing whether to take the job if Obama offered it.

AP - A new witness has come forward in the 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba, and prosecutors said Tuesday they are seeking more evidence against the only remaining suspect.

AP - Detroit's Big Three automakers pleaded with a reluctant Congress Tuesday for a $25 billion lifeline to save the once-proud titans of U.S. industry, pointedly warning of a national economic catastrophe should they collapse.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's top choice for attorney general is Eric Holder, a former No. 2 Justice Department official in the Clinton administration and Obama campaign aide who would become the first African American to serve as the nation's chief lawyer.

Reuters - Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich claimed victory on Tuesday as the first Democrat elected to Congress by Alaska in more than a quarter of a century, unseating powerful Sen. Ted Stevens who was convicted last month of corruption after decades in the U.S. Senate.

Reuters - U.S. auto executives warned Congress on Tuesday that their industry was teetering on the brink of disaster as they pleaded for a $25 billion aid package despite political opposition to another multibillion-dollar government bailout.

AFP - The operators of a hijacked Saudi super-tanker carrying 100 million dollars of oil were waiting Wednesday for further contact from the Somali bandits who staged their biggest act of piracy yet.

AFP - A Texas grand jury has issued indictments against Vice President Dick Cheney and former attorney general Alberto Gonzalez over abuse at privately run prisons, court documents showed.

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama moved closer to filling a key spot in his cabinet on Tuesday as his transition team plotted a careful course to shaping the next U.S. administration.

Reuters - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and members of Congress clashed on Tuesday over the best use for the $700-billion financial bailout fund, with lawmakers demanding money to stem a national wave of mortgage foreclosures.

Reuters - Momentum to name Timothy Geithner as the next U.S. Treasury Secretary seems to be building, both among the country's top business executives and bettors with actual skin in the game.

Reuters - The U.S. Treasury defended its handling of the financial bailout on Tuesday as American banking and auto woes reverberated around the globe and the International Monetary Fund said it would need extra funding to help countries through the downturn.

Reuters - If Sen. Hillary Clinton is to be picked by President-elect Barack Obama as his secretary of state, it may well depend on a review of the business activities of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc said Jerry Yang will step down as chief executive as soon as the board finds a replacement, sending its shares up 4 percent on hopes his departure will clear the way for a deal with Microsoft.